


run away; TXT

by arrowthroughtheheart



Series: - m u s i c v i d e o s - [2]
Category: TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Angst, Best Friends Huening Kai & Kang Taehyun, Choi Yeonjun-centered, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Gen, Kang Taehyun-centered, Maybe - Freeform, Mentions of Suicide, Mentions of homophobia, Mentions of underaged drinking, Shapeshifting, Supernatural Elements, Talking To Dead People, Thriller, aint nobody gonna proofread this, but it perfectly summarizes this story, but later on, i dont mean any harm with this fic, lmao that sounds funny, mentions of bullying, original character: demon, read the disclaimers, squint for details, txt, what even is this, whooP, why is that a tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 11:53:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21252965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arrowthroughtheheart/pseuds/arrowthroughtheheart
Summary: 𝕨𝕙𝕠 𝕝𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕤 𝕨𝕙𝕠 𝕕𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕨𝕙𝕠 𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪.kang taehyun wonders why no one but the little spawn of devil, huening kai - would talk to him. choi yeonjun hopes to God about something he can't change.unless?





	run away; TXT

**Author's Note:**

> (っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ DISCLAIMER ♥
> 
> i don't mean homosexuals need to go to hell. i think they're all cool, and i don't think they should go to hell! heck - i don't believe in hell (: so-  
everything in this fic is totally fiction - wow! - and i don't mean to offend anyone, but if i do! my sincerest! apologies! let me kiss ur feet fifty-five times before you forgive me because yOU DESERVE TO FEEL VALIDATED ON YOUR OPINION.  
speaking of opinions, leave some below! i really like comments :') makes me feel like i have friends~  
also i changed Huening Kai's nickname - aka the way ppl call him - like fifty times in this fic i'm sorry i just dont know what to call the liddle babie  
and it makes me happy if you leave a drop of comment :D  
okay- i'm high today.  
HERE'S YOUR SPOOKY SEASONS DOSE!! ILY ALL

**9 ¾**

Taehyun is a bit distracted. Remembering the few hours he has left before the bell rings and an abundance of students will overflow the empty halls he usually lingers in - and though it usually doesn’t bother him as much, this time; it makes him pace back and forth on his fluffy socks, choosing to focus more on how much the atmosphere has changed throughout the years.

These days, there’s so much stress in the air that Taehyun can no longer get an actual grip on his friends or  _ anyone _ else who passes by the hallway - and this made him kind of. . .lonely.

The music thrumming his ear drums calms him down a little bit, but he’s nowhere near ready for the loud, blaring noise which is the bell. It’s partially his fault for standing right in the middle of the hallway; where the bell, as per usual, would sound ultimately louder - but the jitters that spread through his body was soon replaced by a sense of serenity, because unlike what he  _ thought  _ would happen, the abundance of students did nothing to bother him.

In fact, combined with the slow, melodious beat he’s listening to; it almost feels like he’s observing the universe. Like a little speck of dust watching how the universe moves all around him, unable to be with them or move with unison with a single one of them, just. . .there. Staring. Unmoving. 

He feels like the  _ past _ , and that, maybe he is - and sometimes it’s in times like this that he is reminded about who he really is.

The library.

Privacy. The one place where Taehyun can feel just the right amount of everything in the world. When the right amount of sunshine came shining through the blinds that were opened up just  _ enough  _ to let him see the small dusts dancing here and there in harmony to his own beating heart - to the tapping of his bored fingers on the table.

This is usually where his friend  _ would  _ come by, back when they had the chance to. But he’s not entirely blaming the situation he’s in right now to his friends, either. It’s. . .all a part of a mistake they all chose to make together. A team’s fault, if you’d consider it so.

But it happened a long time ago.

A part in Taehyun’s heart wants it to be over with, wants them to put it all behind them - and to be honest, they should’ve. It was no one’s intention, and it seems like everyone forgive and forget, as they should be. He misses them.

Taehyun misses the feeling, the warmth that once filled his heart every time they do silly little things he pretended to hate so much, the sting that filled his eyes with tears when they’re all trapped in the teacher’s quarters for spending too much time ‘ruining the school’s facility’ - or so the adults liked to put it. He misses the feelings; he misses  _ having  _ feelings.

It all feels so dull now, it feels as if the days that had gone by are just days he’s spending inside a little tight box, dark, and absent of any light. He feels like he’s suffocating under ground, and he feels like there’s no one else that would dig him away from that situation - because he’s not wrong.

There’s no one else in there with him.

Or so he thought.

Taehyun looks up from the book he zoned out from when he hears cursing from the window - just a few feet away from where he sat down in the quiet library, and for a second he thinks about scolding whoever is out there disturbing his meditation, but decided against it since his days have been quiet enough and it really won’t hurt to have a normal conversation with someone without scaring them off.

He leans on the soft, window-side sofa to drag the window open. It opens with a soft screech that only he - hopefully - can hear, and his eyes captured the lanky and tall figure of someone he knows all too well, standing all the way down there with two-coloured chalks on his hands, his hair grown out longer than the last time Taehyun has seen him; but it oddly made the other mature a whole lot.

And his height,  _ too _ , Taehyun feels a slight chuckle erupting from his throat when he remembers how the other would complain about his parents making him go to that swimming lessons that he hated so much. He used to despise it so much, but Taehyun guesses that he still goes frequently, since - when did their little Huening Kai grow so much?

_ Huening Kai, _ huh. Why did it feel like it’s been so long since Taehyun heard that name?

The tall, younger boy is still standing a few floors under where Taehyun’s library is located in, and he’s staring off into the green beyond behind their school’s fences, and Taehyun almost laughed at him for a single fleeting moment before Huening Kai turns around, a confused look written across his face with his eyebrows connected to each other.

“You smell like fire,” the younger sniffs around him for awhile before backing away, nose scrunched in disgust. “Like fire- what do you mean?” Taehyun responds, bracing himself for a cheesy line, a Huening Kai trademark he can never run away from. To be honest, he was more shocked to find out that the younger would  _ speak  _ to him rather than what he’s saying right now.

All these years. . .they never even spared him a glance.

“Like you’re burnt. Like you’re a roasted beef,” Kai deadpanned, looking straight into the older’s eyes. There’s something wrong in Kai’s eyes, Taehyun can feel it - like a wave of confusion and gladness and the haziness in his eyes which only indicates the fact that he’s sleepy, usually, but not exactly  _ that.  _ “Why would I smell like roasted beef?”

“I don’t-” Kai trails off, and Taehyun looks away. He  _ knows _ .

“Anyway,” Taehyun chimes back into the neglected conversation, finding the colours of Kai’s fingers odd before he is reminded that the younger was playing with coloured chalks right before he found Taehyun creepily stalking him - “I. . .didn’t know you stopped going- not going to places, meeting- uh. . .be _ friending _ ? I didn’t know you’re no longer. . .you know. . .friends with Beomgyu, and, and-” Taehyun lets out a sigh, “Yeonjun.”

Kai lets out a confused hum in return, and it only adds to Taehyun’s awkwardness. What fate does God want him to play in, huh? After a few years of not talking to his friends or have any of them reach out  _ to  _ him, and the first thing God do after these few couple of lonely years is dump a Huening Kai in front of him? Not even a Choi Soobin? His best friend- well, Taehyun still considers Soobin his best friend, but surprisingly Soobin is one of the people who are included in this whole ‘ignore-Kang Taehyun’ movement.

But then, thinking about it again; everyone  _ is  _ ignoring Taehyun, so he won’t blame each and every one of them just because he’s petty like that.

He lifts his gaze from the floor to meet Huening Kai’s, who is now staring back with a bit more concern rather than looking like he’s dozing off while walking. 

“N-nevermind, I- I guess I shouldn’t have asked about things like that,” Taehyun shakes his head, rising up to his feet to hide himself as far away as possible from Huening Kai - who apparently is having  _ none  _ of that.

“Hey, hey - where are you going?” he clicks his tongue, holding onto Taehyun’s hand as tight as he can. Taehyun is surprised at how cold Kai’s hand is, brushes it off with the fact that they’re sitting right underneath an air conditioner. “You’re right. Talking of the two little shits, I haven’t seen them since yesterday,” the younger stood up.

Taehyun grins, avoiding eye-contact. There’s something unnerving about the way Kai looks at him ever since he found him in the library, but Taehyun just can’t put a finger on it. “Is that how you talk about people older than you?”   
“Nah,” Kai chuckles, “I don’t talk that way about you, you’re too nice. The other two, though - well, except Soobin, I’m  _ dead _ scared of that guy - the other two has never really strike me as people who demand respect.”

“So you call them little shits instead?” Taehyun raises his eyebrows, voicing a challenge that Kai actively ignores.

“Also, I don’t know  _ why _ but,” Kai continues, jogging a little bit to catch up with Taehyun before tilting his head to get a better glimpse at the older’s face, “I really, really, missed you. That’s why I was thinking, ‘Ah, wouldn’t it be nice to finally be able to meet Taehyun?’ And then I felt someone looking at me from a few floors up and, it really is Taehyun!”

Odd. 

“Why would it be nice to ‘finally’ meet me? I’ve been here the whole time,” Taehyun chuckles, unable to shake the odd feeling in his chest.

“I don’t know,” came from Kai, quiet and confused that Taehyun can almost hear the storm raging in his head again - but this time, it’s a lot bigger than the previous one; and this time, Huening Kai doesn’t know.

“You’re,” Taehyun cringes, his nose scrunching up trying to look for the right word, “you’re weird.” It was supposed to be jokingly offensive, apparently, but when he found no trace of Huening Kai trying to argue, Taehyun feels almost bad. “Yeah, I do feel weird. But today has been weird, hasn’t it? I don’t even remember anything aside from the fact that I was standing outside for a really long time.”

Taehyun stops listening, as he has stopped questioning. He’s stopped doing almost everything since a long time ago - and it feels like the existence of a friend to keep him company will peak his interest to do things that will waste time and the benefits he  _ might  _ get if he focuses on the things that matters. But what are the things that matters, anyways?

“Like, look at me,” Kai decides to cling onto Taehyun’s shoulder this time, “just  _ why  _ is the hallway this empty?”

_ Right, _ Taehyun frowns, looking up from Kai’s hand on his and around to find out just where everyone has gone. It’s been barely a half hour since the bell rang a couple of minutes ago and it’s been an even shorter time when he and Huening Kai were at the cafeteria; though it was eerily quiet there, too - is that the clock? Why, why is the clock running so fast? Why is it turning faster than normal, as if someone is turning it by force to end the day quickly? What even  _ is  _ normal?

He glances to his side, where his confused and puzzled friend stood, eyes now squinting in anxiety. “You shouldn’t be here with me,” Taehyun finally blurts out, continuing to walk away from Huening Kai. “I- what- Taehyun!” the other boy catches up to him one more time, pupils quivering in fear. “The school is being freaky and you want me to go on my own? That’s some recipe for disaster right there. I’m staying with you-”

“The freaky stuff only happens to me, okay?” 

He can see Huening Kai’s jaw dropping, but his grip on Taehyun’s shoulder does not cease. “What do you mean? What happened to you?”

_ What happened to you? _

The question, thought meant to be literal; because they were talking about being scared to death by some freaky things going on - also brought the uncomfortable buzz nagging at the corner of Taehyun’s mind. It sounds like someone screaming, but dulled out by the louder buzz that makes him feel like he’s been blindfolded and forced to walk in a dark hallway; but now with Huening Kai clinging to him.

That could be better or worse.

What happened to you? What happened to  _ us _ , Huening Kai?

“I- uh,” Taehyun snaps out of his daze, “I don’t know.”

“WHAT THE FUCK-” Kai exclaims, releasing his hold on the other boy’s shoulder, as Taehyun flinches before raising a hand at him. “No, no, no, please don’t hit me! Wait, listen- don’t you hear that?” he continues, and Taehyun stills, his eyelids widening.

He does.

_ “A-anyone- ugh,  _ hyung _ , this is stupid.” _

Kai took off, bolting through the hallways without minding the fact that he was scared of their own school for a moment, and Taehyun doesn’t follow him, not sure why the other is that fired up. Only until the long-haired boy screeches at the top of his lungs does he find out why, and he soon follows suit.

“Beomgyu?” Kai peeks into a class, sliding the door open slowly and finding no one of importance inside, slamming it back to its place while Taehyun hears a few disturbed noises from inside the classroom.

_ “Just say it- we need to try, Gyu.” _

_ “But Yeonjun’s not-” _

_ “Don’t bother him.” _

Taehyun frowns, slamming the doors to every class open as he hears the voice echoing louder and louder around him. He wonders what makes the students in each class so bothered everytime he moves the doors - they usually open and close doors for fun, especially the kids in these grades; losing their minds from the final exams. Unless?

“Soobin- _ hyung _ ?” Kai again, passing by the gymnasium just like that - although that was maybe the place they spend most of their time in. Huening Kai  _ is  _ a swimming athlete afterall.

Taehyun spared his time to peek into the gym while he’s running after the younger, and he can swear on his life that he sees another Huening Kai, looking back at him from the water, body submerged in water but his neck and up; keeping his head above water. This one took a deep breath and went into the water not long after he spared Taehyun a glance, and Taehyun brushes it off as a very strong memory.

Weird. Before Huening Kai shows up, he’s never had a memory strong enough that he could see them. He’s never heard Soobin or Beomgyu, either - and this brings him to a realization that maybe Huening Kai is a life saviour, at least for him.

“Taehyun, over here!”

His ears picked up Huening Kai’s calls for him, and he keeps his head up to find the other boy waving at him from in front of a door to a classroom he’s all too familiar with. Wait, maybe not that familiar, since he’s never been in this part of the school - but why is it so familiar?

_ Drip. _

Taehyun’s smile falters when he hears a loud, almost obvious drip of water by his right ear - which makes him turn around, noticing the bright red drop of liquid on the floor leading all the way to the slightly cracked open door of the gym where an individual is standing right there, looking at him.

His cheeks are bruised and his entire body coloured gray-ish like he’s been choked or drowned to death, and the swimsuit almost all-too-familiar for Taehyun as he feels his blood freeze. The boy looks back at him, and the corner of his lips turned into a crooked smile; it almost looks broken. “Kang Taehyun?”

At the same time, Huening Kai turns to see what Taehyun has been looking at - and he, too, freeze on his spot. “I-i-is that,” Kai trails off, and Taehyun looks back at him, panicked. “Is that  _ me _ ?”

And it is, indeed. It’s another Huening Kai, hair dripping water and face bruised and gray from the lack of air, apparently, and he’s wearing a ripped and broken but familiar swimsuit that has his team’s logo written on the very front. “Taehyun!” Huening Kai pulls him away from the unmoving, more dead looking, other-Kai’s direction, though the other one doesn’t seem like he has an interest to move a muscle.

“Taehyun! G-g-g-ghost!” He screams again, and the two of them inches closer and closer to the classroom’s door, by now the voices of their friends are just hanging on air, ignored.

“No,” the other-Kai says, swaying his head left and right slowly. “ _ You’re  _ the ghost,” he leans back, “I’m just the  _ body _ .”

The other-Kai falls to the floor, half of his body inside the gym and only his socks-covered-legs are outside, dripping the excess water to the floor while the gym door swings over and over again, hitting him and trying to close and open normally because of the wind. 

Taehyun feels like his whole life is drained from his face as he feels the dullness in his head minimizing, which means he can now hear the shouts in the back of his head a bit more clearly. 

Ghost.

_ Ghost? _ _   
_ “Let’s go,” Huening Kai pulls his hand inside, a bit too forcefully to believe that he’s not troubled by what they just saw. Of course he’s troubled, who wouldn’t be? 

But Huening Kai’s face looks calm, almost, and excited that he’s going to meet his friends again; but all in all he looks serene. Peaceful. 

_ “Kang Taehyun and Huening Kai, if you’re here with us-” _

They can hear Soobin’s sentence cut off by the sound of the door sliding open by the hands of Huening Kai, who shows them his most smug smile of all time; especially when the three people inside their classroom turns their head towards the door, shocked and surprised, with little hints of fear decorating their eyes.

“Yes, yes, it’s your adorable Huening Kai - and he’s back, save the applause, please,” he drags a chair out of its place where it has been tucked away nicely, and the three pair of eyes follows the movement of the chair, all of them; Yeonjun especially, looking more and more traumatized. 

Taehyun feels like he can’t breathe, his hands clutching the doorknob tightly - partially because he doesn’t want the other-Kai to just join their reunion and another because he knows this isn’t just some reunion. Beomgyu confirms it for him.

“H-hello?”

Kai frowns at the view of his best friend looking right past him, past Taehyun and literally anywhere else but the two newcomers; and he starts standing up - his eyebrows knit together. “B-Beomgyu- _ hyung _ ?”

“Did you see that or was I insane?  _ Hyung _ , the door opened by itself and the chair - the chair moved!” Beomgyu continues, standing up from whatever the hell they just drew on the ground; where he’s sitting across from Soobin, whose jaw is hanging open too. “I-I know- um-”   
Huening Kai looks back at Taehyun, disbelief written across his face. He looks like he’s about to cry, but looking at Taehyun’s bewildered eyes makes him calm down a little bit. “Ha,” he chuckles, putting his hands on his hips. “Funny. Come on, let’s not freak Taehyun out, okay? We’ve been witnessing freaky things this whole day and-”

“I can  _ see _ you two,” Yeonjun says, already a bit more calm than the two bickering boys in front, who is sitting next to a chalk pentagram.

Taehyun lets out a disturbed noise, choosing to clutch his hand to Huening Kai’s. 

“I can see you but I choose not to,” the oldest in the room continues, going on with his task of cutting into a notebook with his cutter, and Taehyun notices the cut on Yeonjun’s thumb. “W-what do you mean,  _ hyung _ ?” Kai frowns, his hand fidgeting on top of Taehyun’s.

“Not everyone can see you,” Yeonjun looks up for a moment, noticing how Beomgyu and Soobin is still fighting, and then looking right into Huening Kai and Taehyun’s eyes. “But I choose not to.”

“The fuck-” Kai trails off, amazed by how unbothered Yeonjun has become, “But why would you choose not to? You can help us,  _ hyung _ , we’ve been so confused and-”

“I don’t want to have to see everything,” Yeonjun cuts them off, taking off his glasses in a way that piqued the interest of Soobin, who begins to ignore Beomgyu, who now is looking at Yeonjun too. “See what, Yeonjun, what do you have to see if you decide to help us out?” Kai asks again, ignoring the way Taehyun is already shaking. The other is never fond of the little bickering moments between Kai and Yeonjun, the youngest notices that; and that’s why he’s been keeping it a minimum all his life. But Yeonjun is being a dick right now and there’s nothing else he can do about it but fight him.

“I have to see how you died!” Yeonjun exclaims, slamming his fists on the table, eyes twitching slightly from the pain of the cut on his thumb. “I- I can’t see anymore of that. I wouldn’t be able to see you at all because of how traumatizing it was for me - and however much I hate to admit, I’ve been keeping an eye on you from afar; but never too close in case,” he looks at his glasses, noticing how the sun reflects a ray of light onto his book, “in case I have to see what follows you, hiding in the shadows.”

“Yeonjun!” Soobin runs to the older’s table, desperation written across his face, and Taehyun lets out a tiny sob. “T-they’re here, aren’t they? Kai and Taehyun are here, aren’t they?”

“They are?” Beomgyu chimes in, looking around. Taehyun can see the way Beomgyu’s tear-filled eyes shake, and his hands mirrored the way his friend’s tremors wash over him.

Yeonjun looks disappointed in himself, but not for long since Soobin decided to kneel right between Yeonjun and where Kai and Taehyun stands - but he doesn’t know Kai and Taehyun are there, so it’s like he’s just talking to this blue-haired asshole that didn’t want anything to do with the ‘ghost’ things but are the one who got approached by the two they’ve been looking for.

“Yeah. Say hi,” Yeonjun forces a smile on his face, “it’s been a while.”

“Your book,” Taehyun says, out of nowhere, while Beomgyu is still calming Soobin down from his big mental breakdown and Yeonjun refuses to wear his glasses, afraid that this Kai and Taehyun are the creepy-ones that has an open scar and smirks like a weird zombie. “What?” Yeonjun turns to him. 

“The pages. They’re on fire,” he finishes, and this prompts Soobin; who hasn’t stopped sobbing, to gasp, choked by his own tears and landed in a coughing fit, pushing Beomgyu to go outside and call a teacher or something. 

“No! Don’t go outside!” Huening Kai and Taehyun jumps out of their seat, blocking the door. The slight movement of the chair makes Soobin follow their movements again.

“Gyu - they said don’t go outside!” Yeonjun exclaims.

“Why?” the blonde asks, and Yeonjun tilts his head to the duo in question.

“B-because there’s a zombie-ghost-apparition-thing that looks like Huening Kai and he’s lying like a dead body-”

“Stop,” Yeonjun stops Taehyun from finishing his words, strutting over to the door to lock it. “They say because there’s a demon out there, and it is now aware that Huening and Taehyun are the only pure souls left that he hasn’t consume,” he explains, and Beomgyu shivers at this, his face grimacing over the nasty thoughts he’s been having that makes him unable to sleep.

“A what now?” Soobin joins the two other boys - oh, and two other invisible ones - by the door. “A demon,” Yeonjun explains, throwing the younger a smile, “and yes. We can  _ all  _ see and be harmed by the demon.”

Taehyun and Huening Kai curls up to each other, uncomfortable that they’ve spoke to him before.

“Why does it look like me?” Kai questions, terrified and offended by the fact that a demon thinks that his appearance is available. “I’m having second thoughts on listening and answering your questions, to be honest-” Yeonjun states, if not for the smack across his head he receives from both Soobin and Beomgyu.

“Because he wants to look scary, Huening Kai, I thought that was clear enough for all of us.”

“I- wasn’t scared,” Kai looks at Taehyun, who is sitting like the life had been sucked out of his eyes, which, if you think about it again - maybe true. “I was just hurt, I guess. I never thought that I should have to watch myself die, or be reminded about it just in case I forgot. But it wasn’t scary,” he pulls the corners of his lips up into a smile, “it was just nostalgic.”

Beomgyu, who doesn’t realize he’s sitting right beside Taehyun, feels a warm feeling when the latter puts his head on Beomgyu’s shoulder. The blonde boy feels a smile creeping up onto his face, not really knowing the reason. He feels happy nonetheless.

“Wh-”

Kai turns around at the right moment to find Taehyun’s face while it contorts into something that looks weird, as if he’s feeling something he isn’t able to distinguish. “Taehyun? What’s wrong?” he asks, prompting Yeonjun to raise onto his feet to get a better glimpse on the two kids he’s supposed to be responsible of for the time being, since he’s the only one who can see them.

Taehyun shakes his head vigorously, trying to push Huening Kai away frantically. “G-go, go! I’ll be fine-”

And while Kai and Yeonjun is confused, trying to figure out what the fuck is happening with Kang Taehyun, another head that looks just like Taehyun’s pops out of the wall, skin peeling off to show his pink-ish skin underneath the slightly burnt and charcoal-coloured outer skin, and Yeonjun almost throws up.

Kang Taehyun died in a fire.

“Taehyun!” Huening Kai runs over to catch his friend’s feet, who is stuck in the arms of the other-Taehyun, also now known as the demon, since we all know his secret identity after the very thorough explanation Yeonjun gave; and since everyone is able to see what a demon looks like, Beomgyu, who is sitting right beside Taehyun and got nudged by the new half-body apparition of a demon-Taehyun - screams out loud, cursing and falling on his but, scooting away from the scene.

Soobin is stunned, normally, since this is maybe his first time seeing something so supernatural yet so similar to his dead best-friend, and partially about to throw up from the gore imagery the demon is providing them. His best-friend died in a fire. He knows that. He knows. It just hurts to remember.

Yeonjun feels helpless. He’s unable to help Huening Kai, who is desperate, clawing at the demon who is clutching his friend; whose head is gone between the wall, might I add - and he’s left feeling weak by the traumatized screams of Beomgyu and the pain flashing in Soobin’s eyes. What the fuck is he going to do?

“You fucking demon,” Yeonjun hears Soobin’s little whisper beside him as he witness the tall boy pick up a chair, nailing it into the demon’s horns, witnessing how the demon’s yellow eyes flicker towards Soobin, a screech escaping its mouth. “Yeah?!” Soobin shouts back, hitting the demon one more time, realizing that Beomgyu is now on his feet, too, shoving a table onto the now angry creature’s neck. 

“You’re just a filthy little demon, huh? Why don’t you go back to hell?”

The creature’s screeching stops, and it smiles. The smile resembles Taehyun for a while, and Soobin can see his best-friend beneath all the burnt skin and ripped muscles, but it turns into something even scarier, while the demon smiles a bit too wide for any human to reach - and its teeth starts showing. “You want me to go to hell, Soobin?”

_ His voice. Taehyun’s voice - but not. _

“Want me to go to hell so I can burn again? So I can burn forever? Why would you want me to burn, Soobin? Don’t you know it hurts? Do you  _ like  _ seeing how your best-friend gets hurt? Do you like it?”

Soobin shakes; angry, scared, and sad. Beomgyu turns to look at the older, screaming some words he can not process. “I- I don’t, I-”

The demon gasps, covering his mouth with his long, red claws. By this point, he’s starting to look more like a roasted chicken rather than Kang Taehyun, but that doesn’t stop Soobin’s guilt train. “You  _ do  _ don’t you? Did you all hear that?” the creature turns to look at the rest of them, flicking Beomgyu away from his neck - and the young boy falls on his back, the table right on top of him. “Maybe little Soobin here was the one who killed you  _ all _ .”   
Huening Kai stops, looking up at the antagonist - disbelief written on his face. “Shut up, you demon-fuck, me and Beomgyu realize how alive we are. Your jokes ain’t funny no more,” Yeonjun steps on top of the table, a broken table’s feet clutched in his right arm as he’s about to Beverly Marsh-the-fuck-out of this demon.  _ You know, that horror movie thing with the children-eating clown. He was about to stab the demon’s head. _

“But how do you know you’re ‘alive’?” the creature says before Yeonjun can do anything, and he disappears, bringing Taehyun with him.

“NO!”

Yeonjun falls on his butt, panicking when he hears Huening Kai’s exasperated wails and how fast the other ghost boy took off on his feet to chase Taehyun.

“Huening Kai!” he tries his best to stand up, groaning from the crack on his back. “He’s gone! Come on, we have to go after them,” he tugs Soobin up into a standing position, momentarily wiping the tears off his face softly. 

Beomgyu takes a deep breath after he removes the broken pieces of table from his chest, heaving when he has to run after the two; but does so either way while calling his friend’s name like it’s a mantra that is supposed to magically bring him back.

✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*

Huening Kai has always been a feel-oriented person. He felt like someone was looking at him, and he felt like it’s the person he’s been wanting to meet, and he was right. He felt like something freaky was going on, and he was right. He felt like what they saw was evil, and. . .well that one left little to question. And now, he felt like he was guilty, mostly because his only friend in this ‘other-world’ is now gone and that’s almost completely his fault. No one else could hold Taehyun back there, only him. 

And he let Taehyun slip.

“-ing Kai!”

Oh, right. But he does have a Yeonjun- _ hyung  _ who can see him! It’s too bad, though. It’ll be fun if both Beomgyu and Soobin can see him, too - but he realizes how he can’t have everything in the world. Or the after-world. Is that why Taehyun is gone, now? Because he has Yeonjun, who can see him?

“Where- uh- where are we heading?” Beomgyu chimes in, stepping a little too close to Huening Kai that it usually would’ve impacted both of them; but not now. “To the swimming pool.”

Yeonjun gazes into Kai’s eyes a bit too long, not realizing how weird it must look to the other two, who can’t  _ see  _ him. “Right, uh,” Yeonjun looks at Soobin and Beomgyu, “we’re going to the swimming pool.”

Soobin looks like he’s taking a hit, the paleness on his face only getting paler as he leans on his knees, trying to take in deep breaths. “ _ Hyung _ , you okay?” Huening Kai rests his hand on Soobin’s shoulder, not retracting them until a while, remembering his situation. A sting pricks his eyes, and his heart feels like it’s been squeezed.  _ He needs to get used to this. _

“I’m okay, thanks for asking,” Soobin mutters, and Yeonjun flinches in shock. “Woah, I didn’t tell you that- how did you-” the oldest looks back and forth in between Soobin and Huening Kai, the youngest face lighting up in interest. “I can feel it,” Soobin smiles, not knowing where to look, but this made Kai giggle.

“Oh. He just did the giggle, can you feel that too?” Yeonjun translates, mirth spilling out of his eyes, and Beomgyu cooed at them in the background. 

“Are you okay with going to the swimming pool, Soobin? I would say it’s okay for you to just wait for us to return, but I don’t even know if it’s safe for anyone to be alone,” Beomgyu flings a hand across the taller’s shoulder. “Y-yeah,” Soobin responds, “I’ll manage.”

“What happened?” Kai whispers, speaking only as low as what Yeonjun can hear, even though Yeonjun  _ is  _ the only one who can hear him. “Well,” the older responds, “here’s the timeline - if you really want to remember. Do you really want to remember?”

Huening Kai nods.

“We were, uh- we were naughty little assholes, you know. Staying in school until night time comes just to ruin the facility and whatnot, if I remember correctly it’s because some other kid defeated Taehyun in being school president by making fun of him and his friendship with us, calling him names that aren’t supposed to be named, and your homeroom teacher laughing along. We drew all kinds of offensive things on the wall, swam in the pool with all of our clothes on, running away from security guards,” Yeonjun’s jaw tightens, and his eyes got nostalgic. In a bad way.

“It turns out that more than just one stupid bitch was being judgemental, spreading rumours that says, ‘Oh, if your kids hang out with those five, rebellious, pierced-ear, eyeliner-wearing kids, they’ll be a  _ homo  _ in no time, and you don’t want that, do you?!’ or something like that. With that in mind, we were drunk, right - okay, underaged drinking, but it was harmless. So we hid in another closed-at-night place, the gas station-” he stops again, and Kai can already see where this is heading to.

“They said he’s a policeman,” Yeonjun grits his teeth. “They said he’s afraid that his son would be interested in one of those ‘pretty-boys’ and will be caught in a cage with a fucking demon,” he looks at Kai, eyes darkened in anger, “he spilled some of them. The gas, the oils. He threw his fucking cigarette at it, smiling to himself like he’s done something God would approve. He’s trying to kill five, living, breathing  _ kids  _ for fuck’s sake-” he rubs a hand through his forehead, and Kai wishes he can at least share their pain. Because he was with them, once upon a time.

“We didn’t even know it was burning until the first tank-container thing blew up,” the blue-haired continue, “and that’s when we began scampering on our feet, all of us too drunk  _ but  _ Taehyun. He made sure all of us knew the way out, but then it was too late,” he sighs, gazing inside the gymnasium, where the calm waters of the pool awaits. “The door frame was made of iron. It melted. He didn’t make it,” Yeonjun shivers, “I was the last one they pulled outside.”

“I don’t know if he remembers any of that, or anything at all - since we were kind of drunk that night,” Yeonjun smiles at the water, “but I was supposed to say sorry to him that day.”

“I was supposed to say sorry because I didn’t stood up for him when they publicly shame him in front of the entire school.”   
“We were  _ all  _ supposed to say sorry,  _ hyung _ ,” Beomgyu chimes in. “No need to beat yourself up over that anymore.”

“Well, all of us but you,” Yeonjun looks back at Huening Kai, who is watching his non-existent reflection on the calm water. “You defended Taehyun against upperclassmen, the big dumb bullies that thought they had the upperground just because they’re heterosexual,” he chuckles, making Kai chuckle along with him and the two other boys. “But it was also a bit too much for you. And I’m-  _ we’re  _ sorry. We’re sorry that we didn’t notice the bruises and cuts, and how you looked a bit more gloomy everytime we see you- and-”

Huening Kai doesn’t know what to do. He stands there, looking at his three, very alive friends cry about him while he watches them do so and is unable to do anything about it. But all in all, he understands. Though he feels nothing more about it, he understands the guilt that is eating up on every single one of his friends - because if he could still feel, he would feel the same for letting Taehyun die in that fire. But he can’t; and he wonders why sometimes it looks like Taehyun still has those.

Feelings.

Could it be?

“Don’t be sorry because you weren’t there to stop me,” Kai mumbled, and Yeonjun looks up to him. “It was not something you can stop, and it wasn’t something that was triggered because I feel abandoned by you, either,” he smiles. “I did it because I missed a friend, kind of like a one-way ticket to visit Taehyun. You know how clingy that guy can be.”

The statement makes Yeonjun chuckle, and Huening Kai gave him a second to translate the words he just said to his friends while his eyes scan the pool.  _ So this is where I ended, wasn't it? _

Huening Kai wonders briefly about how ghosts can swim, but he decided to screw logic and jump into the water; the splashing and sudden noise of someone entering the pool shocking the two other boys that were blind to his existence. He doesn’t notice how both Soobin and Beomgyu has their weird faces on, of course, since he was underwater - but he can see it when he gets closer to the edge of the pool, where Soobin is pointing at him with tears in his eyes and Beomgyu’s little clenched fists are shaking.

Yeonjun is mouthing something to him.

_ They. Ah, they, okay. Can. . .what? They can see you? _

“You can  _ see  _ me?!” Kai exclaims excitedly, popping his head out of the water only to find Soobin and Beomgyu screaming, genuinely terrified while begging him to go back underwater. “Whoah, whoah, what the fuck? We can’t see your head if you’re above water - go back in! Jesus Christ, that’s creepy as fuck,” the blonde splashes water to him while Soobin holds both of his hand in front of his face.

“Oh,” Kai tilts his invisible - except to Yeonjun - head, “okay.”

“It’s-” Soobin leans closer to the pool, wiping at the tear building at the corners of his eyes. “It’s like - it’s like he’s alive.”

“Well, yeah,” Yeonjun shrugs, taking off his shoes. “Why do you think I have a problem with letting people go?”

Beomgyu, whose eyes aren’t as occupied as Soobin at the moment, spared Yeonjun his glance while the blue-haired boy continued. “Because I don’t even let go people who died. You know, because I can see them. But letting go of people who are still with you; you know, physically - which means they’re still alive, to some extent, they’ve just moved away or. . .or stopped talking to you,” Yeonjun’s eyes look nostalgic as he says this. “It’s a lot harder.”

“Have you ever wished to get rid of your abilities to see them?”

_ Obviously,  _ Yeonjun almost replied to the obvious question Soobin asked of him, but he finds that it wasn’t what he wanted to blurt out either. Nothing is ever that obvious, especially not since now he can use the abilities he hates so much to see his very much dead friends. He doesn’t want them to suffer alone - he really doesn’t. “I do wish,” he concludes, “but I won’t.”

He monitors Soobin’s face for any signs of aggravation or offense, but he finds none. Soobin looks calm, this time around - proud, even. Maybe he took Yeonjun’s answer as a character development, or maybe there was a time where Soobin doubted how much Yeonjun treasures his friends.

“You don’t wish anymore because you’re worried about your friends?”

Another typical Soobin question. “Yeah,” Yeonjun replies, scratching the back of his neck. He doesn’t know how this kid is able to read his mind over and over again, but he does it everytime.

“Don’t worry your head about us, Jun -  _ we’ll  _ be fine.”

Yeonjun almost opened his mouth, jokingly disagreeing because; no, it’s not Soobin and Beomgyu he’s worrying about - it’s about Taehyun being kidnapped by an ugly ass demon probably being consumed and Huening Kai, who will have no more friends left if anything happens to Taehyun. Not that anything  _ could _ be worse than going to hell, since, he’s dead - but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Soobin said something first, pointing out to a shiny door(?) underneath the pool, obviously heading somewhere, since it shines like a little pikachu is hiding down there. “Hey, look, what’s in there?”

Huening Kai opens the door, and for a split second Yeonjun was about to turn around and tell the other two boys that yes, non-living creatures can move things around, especially if it’s a magical fucking door; but Soobin and Beomgyu looked unbothered, and this is probably caused by how real and physical Huening Kai looks that they don’t remember that he’s dead. Either way, this made Yeonjun; who already opened his mouth, forgetting that he’s submerged under water, choke on the non-existent air and the abundance of water flowing inside his lungs.

Someone’s hand pushed him through the opened door, and although his eyes were blurry, he can almost swear it was none other than Huening Kai.

He’s probably dizzy from the lack of air, though.

Yeonjun falls on his bottom, shrieking from the shock of going from a literal pool into a sewer-like tunnel, filled with plants he’s never seen before and almost completely dry; and he hurried himself to get away from the landing spot as Beomgyu prepared himself to launch - ended by Huening Kai who landed gracefully on his feet.

“Ugh,” Yeonjun groans, “ghost privileges exist.”

“It’s not a privilege,  _ hyung, _ ” Kai helps him to get on his feet, “I’ve been here.” It took Soobin and Beomgyu a second before they get used to how dizzying and almost unreal their surroundings are before they even realize the fact that they can  _ see  _ and  _ hear  _ Huening Kai as if he’s a living breathing person, and are now cheering like their favourite soccer team won the world championship. “You- you’re-” Soobin reached forward, and Yeonjun was about to catch him since he’s obviously going to fall; you can’t touch Huening Kai - said boy leaned forward to hug Soobin first, and Yeonjun is left with his jaw dropping further than ever before.

“You can touch  _ ghosts _ ?!” He and Beomgyu exclaims, even Soobin - who retracted his hug immediately from shock and now feels bad because; come on, who breaks a hug with Huening Kai, that’s just illegal. “Usually, no you don’t. I guess. But maybe this is like, some, ghost realm thing? I don’t know,” Kai replies, shrugging - his eyes fixated on the entrance they came from. “But if that’s the case, I don’t think you would materialize into something that could touch  _ flesh _ , I mean - what in the fuck’s name is happening, is my research not in-depth enough-”

“Oh,” Beomgyu mumbles, following Kai’s eyes, “it’s logical if we’re ghosts, too.”

Soobin entertains a very distraught Yeonjun while Beomgyu and Huening Kai lead the way, going deeper and deeper into the tunnel with only little rays of light coming from the upper ground; or upper pool - since there’s little cracks with a blue light shining through it, and Beomgyu swears he feels like he’s on drugs.

“Like in movies? Soobin, look at me - like what the movies said? Like, we left our fucking bodies floating in the fucking pool?! No way - what if some teachers came in and thought we were  _ dead _ ? Also, if we left our body where oxygen doesn’t exist, doesn’t that mean our adventure down here is timed?” Yeonjun freezes, making Soobin stand still beside him. “Holy shit, you can’t be serious,” Soobin looks at his friend, perplexed.

It took the two of them 0.1 seconds to leap forward, passing by Beomgyu and Huening Kai while shouting nonsense. “We’re gonna fucking die, Gyu!” “We need to hurry let’s go!” “TIME! WE HAVE NO TIME!”

And another 0.01 second for Yeonjun to kick open a yellow door, grimacing from how hot the surface feels upon his ghostly palm and peeking inside, trying to take a glance into their new surroundings.

“Kang Taehyun!” Huening Kai calls out, the youngest’s happiness is evident through his voice and his sprint towards the - oddly calm, despite the whole kidnapping thing going on back in the class, one and only Taehyun. He waves back at them, a weird, wand-looking thing in his hand, and Yeonjun almost made a point to joke about how  _ Harry Potter  _ the younger looks, especially with the glasses that came out of nowhere. 

Seriously, did Taehyun died to become a magician?

The atmosphere was calm for a while, until Huening Kai ran  _ past  _ Taehyun and instead towards the gigantic, white - general looking door a few inches away from where Taehyun stood. Kai grabbed the door knob, trying to twist it around a few times before frantically pushing it back and forward, groaning. “Kang Taehyun!” he repeats, slamming his hand on the door.

“Huening Kai,” Soobin frowns, checking his watch. “What? What are you- he’s right here,” the older motions to Taehyun, standing still in front of the door - back facing Huening Kai and smiling at the rest of the boys. Yeonjun frowns.

“It’s so,” Taehyun begins, turning around with his right hand stretched, and for a while it just hangs there on the air - until it settles on Huening Kai’s hair as he grabs it towards himself with as much force as he can, “ _ nice  _ of you all to abandon your body up there, floating like little balloons - to visit me down here.”

Huening Kai is struggling to break free.

“And maybe,” the apparently-not-Taehyun smiles, “let me eat your soul?”

His jaw opens up, and a screech so high-pitched it almost felt like they weren’t supposed to hear it break out from his mouth - and the trio who were standing still separated into the woods, breaths heaving, feeling like their lungs are filled with air. “Fuck,” Yeonjun curses, tumbling down until his whole body is hidden behind the bushes, feeling how some thorns pricked his upper arm. But there  _ isn’t  _ any.

“Oh my god,” he looks back to the entrance they opened up, “someone is doing something to our body?”

“Tae- ugh-” Yeonjun’s head snaps up when he hears the impact of someone’s head hitting the floor, and he gasps, turning around to find anything that would let him fight? Or whatever, he just wants to bring Taehyun and Kai back together and maybe or maybe not kill this large, roasted-demon-chicken.

And who the fuck gave this demon a pass to punching their little Huening Kai like that?

_ Apparently,  _ both Yeonjun and Beomgyu had a synchronized thought about ganging up against this gigantic, probably seven-feet tall demon, since they both jumped out of their little hiding spot in the exact same time; ready for the exact same impact and to fall on their butt - and that was exactly what happened.

While he floats - well not really, he was just flying because he was hit by a supernatural creature who is able to shapeshift - he saw Soobin running towards the demon with this long, thorn-filled vine. . .thing, and in his mind he was thinking, oh, smart; maybe a few seconds before realizing the fact that Soobin alone might not be the strongest thing that would keep the demon in a certain place, you know?

So then he was like, “Ah, fuck.”

And then he sees Soobin lying right beside him, wincing from the pain - which, surprisingly hurts a bit more than when your physical body hits the ground. Wait, that’s maybe just because they’ve never been thrown away by a fucking demon when they’re merely little pesky young men. They’re just students, you know; no paranormal activities should be witnessed by stressed out young children.

Or so the theory goes to little to no horror movies ever.

But then the horny-vine-thing - _ Jesus Christ, that just sounds terribly wrong _ \- starts shining. Literally shining, like Rapunz*l’s hair when she sings something; you know, and by this point, Yeonjun almost broke into laughter at how silly their situation is when he realizes it’s really  _ not  _ that silly. The thing was, successfully wrapped around the demon’s claws; or, feet, in this context - and the shining thing sounds promising enough. That promising that Yeonjun ignored the numbing pain in the back of his head when he sits up, squinting his eyes, trying to better hear the song Huening Kai is chanting underneath his breath. 

_ “I think everyone is happy except me.” _

Yeonjun nudges Soobin by his side, the boy responding to it with another slap right back at him, giving in finally after being glared at by the older for a whole second - joining him with a frown on their face when the words chanted by Huening Kai starts to get a little bit familiar.  _ _

_ “It hurts to laugh more than to cry.” _

Beomgyu, who is holding a very intense eye-contact with the angered demon; somehow, since no one is really paying attention to him - felt the focus in his eyes faltering apart, and the back of his eyeballs feel like they’re burning up, and there’s an unbearable pain drilling into his skull - but then it was all okay again. He looks to his side, surprised when the demon broke eye-contact first; a childish kind of victory, really, but he was trying to share it with his friends.

_ “Even if I try to bear it every day.” _

Beomgyu gasps, leaning forward on the muddy grass, clapping like a seal. 

_ “That's not good I need your hands now.” _

“Do you not remember?” he grins, a glint of joy sparkling in both of his eyes, stealing the attention of both Soobin and Yeonjun; who were paying attention to Huening Kai who is holding the vine that was attached to the demon with all his might, singing to himself as if he’s enjoying life. There’s even a smile on his face.

“Remember what?” one of the oldest two asks, and Beomgyu helps himself to get up on his feet, joining Huening Kai’s tug-of-war with a demon. Do I really need to specify that they’re fighting a demon every time?

“This song,” Beomgyu stares at them. “It’s the song we made when we were high and emotional.  _ Remember _ ? When Taehyun pitched in the idea of us running away because society has judged us for the things that might not even be our fault?”

_ “Be my eternity, call my name.  _

_ Run away, run away, run away with me.  _

_ At the end of the world forever together.” _

The door creaks, obviously - since literally no one or nothing will handle the impact of five teenage boys with their voice cracking here and there singing- _ screaming _ at them, and no, it has nothing to do with magic or anything supernatural and whatnot, since Yeonjun refuses to be that cheesy.

But he watches as Huening Kai tilts his head when the door creaked open, and he saw the younger’s eyes light up while he took a break from screaming the song at the top of his lungs only to scream, “Hell yeah!” and his murmured, “literally,” which followed right after - and he caught a glimpse of Taehyun’s hand, gripping tightly at the slightly opened door, trying his best to get it moving a little bit faster, and Yeonjun feels a drop of tears stinging his eyes.

He doesn’t even take notice of the demon. . .lighting up in flames? Aren’t demons supposed to be immune to flames or whatever - anyways, the demon lights up in flames, his left hand trying to claw the door so it closes and Taehyun is back in  _ hell _ , since that’s what was beyond the door - if you didn’t get Huening Kai’s reference earlier.

Apparently, Kang Taehyun as a ghost is strong enough to fight a demon’s clawed hands - since all he had to do was slip out of the tiny crack of the door after it opened enough - though Yeonjun wonders why can’t the ghost boy just ghost his way out of the door, although the door to hell might be a little bit different. And Taehyun pops out, filled with laughter and excitement, apparently, since the first thing he does is laugh out loud while pointing a finger at the demon, who looks like it shrunk in size while the shining-vine chokes him to death.

Let’s just say, a decapitated demon’s head isn’t what Yeonjun expected to come face to face with when he abandoned his physical body to come save his already-dead-friend.

“Holy shit,” Taehyun gags, kicking the head through the door; which now swings rather easily. Or dead-Taehyun is just that strong. Yeonjun takes mental notes in not pissing Taehyun off next time the ghost boy asks for his favor. 

“You losers,” Taehyun turns around now, pointing his finger at each and every one of them; smile almost as wide as Huening Kai’s, “really went down here to the entrance of hell itself to save  _ me _ ?”

“Well, yeah, the fuck?” Soobin stood up, tears welling up in his eyes as he walks towards Taehyun, without having second thoughts bringing his best-friend into a tight hug. Taehyun lets out a quiet, “Aw, you cry baby,” while this whole ordeal happens while Soobin went into a coughing fit, staring at Taehyun with all of his accusations. “You smell burnt,” the older complains, and Huening Kai went crazy saying, “I knew it! See it wasn’t only me!”

And the two of them went into this debate of how Huening Kai could’ve smelled the burning sensations of hell when he met Taehyun before he went inside - and it got awfully quiet since the two bickering boys looked up at Taehyun, eyes wide. “Oh, shi-”

“You too?” Taehyun asks Yeonjun before Kai can continue, and the blue-haired got awkward, scratching at his neck with no sign of actual itchiness. “I thought you weren’t going to help us.”

“Well, I- I- nah. That was just, you know. I just said things I didn’t mean because-”

“Thank you,” Taehyun cuts him off, “I really do hate that stupid motherfucker,” the younger continues, pointing at the now headless demon. Yeonjun can feel his ghostly cheeks warming up. How the fuck does one blush when he’s got no blood?

“But it’s cute how you tried to get me out of  _ hell  _ you know, uh,” three other heads turned to Taehyun, disbelief written in their eyes, “there’s literally no way I  _ don’t  _ belong in hell.”

Huening Kai’s little screech-y, dolphin-like laughs almost literally blew their mind, and Soobin turns his head to the youngest, a chain of complain already waiting to flow out; “Wait so we went through all that mess-”

“Huening Kai can be a demon slayer on his own.”   
“For-fucking-real?” 

“I’ve never been more sure,” Taehyun smiles, eerily too formal for his own good, but soon breaks character as he cackles, patting Soobin by the shoulder. “Your effort was appreciated though. It was really funny- I mean, heart-warming,” Taehyun’s speech is accompanied by Kai snorting in the background, “because it shows me how much I still matter to you all.”

“Wait- but how could you be in hell? You’re like the kindest living person I’ve ever known?” Beomgyu asks, but soon after that he looks like he’s able to retract his question, since Taehyun gave him a look that makes him go, “Ah - so that’s why they call us a bunch of homosexuals!”

Which is comedic, in its own time; and Yeonjun had to think of the saddest scenario to stop himself from laughing at his friend’s slow-wit. 

“Okay, but,” Huening Kai joins the conversation, trying to wipe the non-existent tears from his eyes, “you three really need to like,  _ go _ , because your body - as far as we know - is either surrounded by people who are trying to get you back to life or are dying from the lack of air,” he looks at Taehyun, who only now realizes - or truly accepts - that his friends are leaving. Again. 

“Hm,” he hums, taking a good look at each one of them; but his eyes lingered a little longer on Yeonjun, and with a meaningful smile, he approached the oldest his index and middle finger put together in this pre-snap pose. 

“Yeonjun- _ hyung  _ has done way more than necessary for us, it’s about time that we grant your wish.”   
Yeonjun doesn’t like that smile on Taehyun. “What the fuck are you two planning?” he frowns, a bit agitated but can not find it in himself to be a bit more aggressive. He feels light-headed. “You two can be like fairy-god-fathers now, or something?” Soobin chuckles, returning the hug Huening Kai gave to him.

“No,” the youngest chuckles, moving on to give Yeonjun a quick hug. “We’re genuinely trying to help. But  _ promise  _ me you’ll go straight to trying to find your body, okay? Before they decide to bury you, or something.”

Yeonjun grimaces, still not liking the idea.

“Are y’all like, the Princes of Hell or something now, for fuck’s sake,” he grins, choosing to nod either way when Huening Kai stomped on his foot. “Alright, alright, have it your way. I will  _ accept  _ your gift. Whatever.”   
Beomgyu nudges his side with a chuckle, knowing how much of a liar Yeonjun can be. He knows exactly that Yeonjun will be the one crying his eyes out the whole time on their way back home, and he doesn’t want to be the one who has to stop him.

Taehyun helps Huening Kai settles inside the gigantic white door for a second before he looks back at the other three, lifting his right hand that was ready to snap. Literally. Like  _ Thanos _ ?

“Choi Yeonjun,” he calls out, “you won’t have to see the things you don’t need to see. Not now, not ever.”

_ Snap. _

The door slams to a close, and the last thing Yeonjun remembers is Huening Kai’s bright smile facing him while he waves his hand excitedly, and the door starts burning. It burns and it burns and it keeps on burning, until it reaches the very top of the door and the field is left with nothing - and then everything turns dark.

══⛧⌒*｡

“ - jun?”

“ - ead.”

“Choi Yeonjun-”

He springs out of his seating position, eyes blurred and everything a bit too bright for him to see, but he can recognize the warm hands touching his forehead. “ _ Hyung _ -?” 

Yeonjun blinks; once, twice, until Soobin’s worried face came into view. Beomgyu is sitting right across from Soobin, eyes twitching, as they always do when Beomgyu is worried. “Y-yeah, hi. I can see you two, you know? Stop leaning into my face if you’re not trying to kiss me,” he responds, and Beomgyu released a relieved chuckle when he heard the older’s witty responses coming back to life even shortly after he woke up from the comma the three of them  _ apparently  _ got into. Together. 

“What happened?” he asks, and Soobin looks at Beomgyu before he can explain the situation, looking like he needs mental support.

“I. . .don’t know. The doctors won’t tell us what happened and how we got in this situation, but we were- we were suspecting a- a, um. . .”

“A suicide. Well. We attempted suicide,” Beomgyu deadpanned, and Soobin scolds him because he’s way too blunt about the situation. “I’m guessing it’s because. . .well, the obvious reason,” Yeonjun continues, mumbling to himself - but because Soobin and Beomgyu were only bickering quietly, they managed to hear them.

“But I don’t get why. I mean I do, and I remember the guilt eating me up, but it’s like- I don’t  _ feel  _ it anymore,” Beomgyu whispers, and Soobin nods in agreement. “Is that a bad thing?”

“No,” Yeonjun shakes his head. “I feel that, too.”

“Maybe  _ they  _ wouldn’t want us to feel guilty,” Soobin says, and he can’t believe he just said that without his heart feeling like they’ve been pricked by a million thorns. He just feels free - it’s like how you’d feel after a nice, long swim. You feel free.

“They won’t want us to give up, for sure,” Beomgyu says again, taking in a better look at Yeonjun, who hasn’t been talking.

“So, what about tomorrow?” the oldest asks, his voice cracking from the lack of use. “What are we going to do? Just live on with our normal day-to-day lives?”

Soobin takes Yeonjun’s hand in his left, and took Beomgyu’s in his right - relishing in the warmth they get off of each other, and he sighs, giving the other two hands he held in his a gentle squeeze. “We’ll just go through it together.”

**.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.☆.*｡･ﾟ✫*.**

“That’s right. Tomorrow, we’ll be together.”

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.☆.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi to me on my other social media stuffs!!  
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